Get Your Child on TV This Fall
Interested in getting your child on TV as a Background Actor? With fall TV season in full swing, now is a great time to sign your minor up with Central Casting. Here’s everything you need to know to complete Talent Onboarding and find your child background work.
What does Central Casting do?
Central Casting books Background Actors, Stand-Ins, and doubles in TV shows, movies, and other productions. We also book babies (who must be at least 15 days old), children, and teenagers (up to 17 years old) to work on our shows.
Background Actors perform in non-speaking roles, usually in the background of scenes. They’re students in The Secrets of Sulphur Springs, birthday party guests in That Girl Lay Lay, camp attendees in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and an endless variety of other roles.
We also book children as doubles. There are strict laws for how long minors can work; productions often use minor doubles to take the place of the child actor when their face does not appear on screen. This allows the production to continue filming when the principal child actor is not available.
Onboard your minor with Central Casting
Ready to get your child on set? You can learn more about onboarding your minor by visiting your location’s Sign Up page.
To onboard with Central Casting, you must bring your minor and their required Form I-9 documentation to your reserved Talent Onboarding session. This is a crucial step in the onboarding process; we cannot onboard your minor without these documents.
Per federal law, minors are required to either present one original unexpired List A document or an original unexpired List B and List C document combination. If presenting a List B document to an employer that participates in E-Verify (Central Casting), the employer can only see/use a List B document that includes a non-detachable photo of the minor.
While children do not need a work permit to onboard with Central Casting, they will need a valid permit from your state in order to work on our productions. Permits are handled differently in each state, read through our article Ensure Your Minor is Eligible to Be Booked by Central Casting to learn more about the process in your location.
How to find your child work
After completing Talent Onboarding, you’ll gain access to your minor’s online casting profile. Casting Directors use their profile when determining the types of roles they can portray. By filling out your child’s profile with their accurate sizes, appearance information, and current photos, you can help your minor show up in searches for roles they fit. Don’t forget to update information and take new photos as your child’s sizes and appearance change.
When booking their shows, Casting Directors will reach out with an availability inquiry that will appear in your minor’s online profile, be emailed to the address on file, and sent as a text message. You can also check our Jobs page, then submit according to the Casting Director’s instructions.
To learn more about how to get your child on TV, read through our guides What to Know About Responding to Casting Messages and Getting Your Minor Prepped for Set.
